Why should I respect superstition(Religious belief)?

Question

I understand that people have cherished beleifs, and since there is so much blood on the hands of the world's religions, why should I have to respect the ignorant superstitions which underpin theism?

Flat earth, the sun revolves around the earth, the sky is a dome or ice etc. great flood fables, regulations for slavery etc. ignorant goatherding misogynists wrote the bible, why should I respect that?

It is not the same question... I understand that Christians have reading comprehension issues ( hence their disregard for the horrors of the bible) but come on guys...

Socrates disrupted society

Specifically, Inquisition, cruscades, witch hunts, HAMMER OF Witches, What state put out gallileo's eyes? Oh wait it was the Church...The list is too long for this forum...

Answer 1

You don't have to respect others' religious beliefs, but you should at least tolerate the beliefs. But, you don't have to respect or even tolerate the actions people may take based on those beliefs. So long as people keep their thoughts to themselves, no problem, but when they act on those thoughts and start to affect other people, that is where they have gone to far.

Answer 2

While I respect a person's right to believe anything they want, I am under no obligation to respect stupid beliefs. There's a good article on this subject here:

http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=smoker_26_6
Excerpt:
Faith, which means firm belief in the absence of evidence, betrays human intelligence, undermines science-based knowledge, and compromises ordinary morality. If there were objective evidence for its doctrines, it would no longer be faith; it would be knowledge.

We have to excuse the medieval skeptics who pretended to respect Christianity rather than risk being burned at the stake, and likewise the apostate Muslims of today who pay lip-service to Islam in those Islamic countries where apostasy is still a capital offense; but we who live in a comparatively liberal society have no such excuse. In fact, it is all the more incumbent upon us to give our support to victims of religious oppression everywhere by coming out of the respectful closet and speaking our minds. Freedom of speech is more important than respect.

Skepticism is of paramount importance, because it is the gateway to knowledge; but unless the skeptical ideas are freely argued over, they cannot be assessed, nor can the ensuing knowledge spread through society.

Totalitarian extremists, of whatever religion or sect, invariably put faith first and freedom nowhere. Censorship, including insidious self-censorship, is then the order of the day, followed closely by violence. In a society where religious orthodoxy rules, there is no freedom of religion.

- "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." -

Answer 3

Its called the golden rule - do unto others as you would have them do to you. No need to believe the superstitions yourself, but history is history, mythology is mythology, mythology is part of the background of history, and other people's beliefs are only other people's beliefs. No need for you to get involved with other people's beliefs unless they are trying to persuade you.
For instance, concerning the evolution and intelligent design theories, neither one can prove their theory beyond doubt to the satisfaction of the other party. So to those in the evolution camp, intelligent design is a myth, and to those in the intelligent design camp, evolution of the universe without a designer is a myth.
So if you are in the evolution camp, simply consider your audience, and know that science will never prove away religion, no matter how hard it tries. Just the same way, might (and the bloodshed that often goes along with it) never makes right, it just makes enemies, no matter how much it tries.

Answer 4

I wince whenever I hear the word 'respect' because it has so many nuanced definitions that I don't think people really know what it means. People seem to wield it in order to convince themselves they are more enlightened than they actually are. A more precise word is always better. "Respect", no matter what it is intended to mean, always carries the connotation of admiration. I really think that just the use of this word has given organized religions more armor than they deserve. I absolutely do not admire them, and I refuse to do so. I do, however, allow them to exist, which is all that is meant by 'respect' in this context. You only have to allow people to believe whatever they want. This just means that you shouldn't physically force people to believe what you do (which would be impossible anyway). In this light, prayer and intelligent design in school are clear violations of the "respect" accorded to all citizens in the Constitution, while berating people in print for believing nonsense is not (in my opinion).

Answer 5

You don't have to, but it's harder to get ahead in the world. I keep my mouth shut at work, and tend to argue with religious people. People need their beliefs the weaker they are. Not to mention, they've been mashed into them since they were old enough to learn. You'll feel better when you realize your not alone and people have felt the way you do forever. At least you live in an age wear you won't die for you belief (depending on where you live). I hope the Internet brings an end to religion. It's a safe place for you and me to speak the truth. Here are a couple links.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates
http://www.positiveatheism.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanism

Answer 6

You don't have to respect it, but do keep quiet about it. What I'm saying is that while you may not accept theism, you really should have respect for the people who do believe in God.

Just as you don't like Fundies shoving their religion down your throat, just as that is disrespectful, so is ridiculing theists because you disagree.

Live and let live. Fuhgedaboudit.

Answer 7

There is nothing superstitious about true religion. True religion is based on fact and truth as revealed to man by the Holy Spirit and the ministering of angels.

Why should I disregard faith in God when He has revealed Himself to me? Why should I ignore truth when I am taught it by the source?

Why should I believe man over God?

Answer 8

i think it's the oil that stops friction. respect! that is. no-one likes disrespect weather your a believer in God's or not. and while i know many Christan's and Muslims that don't respect my godless lifestyle and beliefs, i would be lowering myself to join in their disrespect, which i assume is based in belief. so i guess i'm trying to say that respect should go too all other humans merely for the fact that they are humans.

Answer 9

Holy Quran doesn't speak about superstition (belief of old scientists) like flat earth, the sun revolves around the earth, great flood etc.

Bible also doesn't speak but problem is in translation and addition of old people.

Answer 10

you have no obligation to respect anything, pig, but you are on a slippery slope. Most horrific perecutions in history (yes, including religious ones) started with a conviction by someone that they have no obligation to respect somebody's else beliefs or nonbeliefs. Atheists murdered 60,000,000 people just in this century (that figure is actually conservative) because they believed they do not want to respect somebody's elses beliefs. While organized religion certainly caused death and suffering on a huge scale, your question confirms you are no different from religious leaders who used reasoning identical to yours to initiate their bloobaths.
Socrates would not be proud of your logic.

christians have reading comprehension issues ?
a little arrogant and presumptious, isn't it ?